Chapter 2- Caveat
They were gone.
The leading bulblin screamed out in rage as he hurled his sword at a near by tree. The serrated blade sunk deep into its wooden flesh, but the sight of it did nothing except enrage its master even more. He glared daggers at the lifeless trunk, mentally replacing it with the carcass of the creature that had just appeared out of nowhere and rescued their prey. Through his mind's eye he saw the creature's mangled body, its scaly hide stained with the beast's own thick red blood. His sword was embedded into its underbelly, blood still oozing from the wound and forming a sickening pool where it landed…
"What are your orders?"
Reluctantly, the commanding bulblin redirected his thoughts from his bloody fantasy to the questioning comrade, back to reality.
"Do a headcount. If you find anyone who can't recover from their wounds, put them out of their misery."
"What of the Hylians? Do we go after them?"
"… No."
The creature stood there for a moment, unsure of what he had just heard. It wasn't like his commander to give up so easily, especially on a task this important. The questioning bulblin gave a curt nod, accepting his leader's orders, and then hurried off to fulfill them.
"The bittersweet side effects ought to keep them busy anyway…" The commanding bulblin said, more to himself than anyone else.
Wretched creature… how dare it interfere with our affairs! Our master will be furious when he finds out about this, and he doesn't usually let these sorts of deeds go unpunished. A malicious smile made its way to the bulblin leader's face. All in due course…
Ever so slowly, Zelda's eyes began to open.
The princess groaned, starting to wish that she'd hadn't regained consciousness in such a bright place. Her vision was blurry, and her brilliant blue eyes stung as the light relentlessly flooded into them. She could barely make out her surroundings; at the moment everything seemed to be either a white or grey blob.
Zelda waited, allowing her eyes to finally grow accustomed to her new surroundings, blinking every now and then to try speed up the process. As her eyesight continued to sharpen at its sluggish pace, the rest of her senses began to resume functioning. She felt cold… cold and stiff. It didn't take long for Zelda's sense of direction to figure out that she was lying on her side, on what felt like a thick sheet of ice. Her suspicions were confirmed with a quick downward glance through her now slightly blurred vision. She caught her reflection in its glossy surface, and it disturbed her somewhat. Her face was covered in smears of dirt, and beads of sweat had frozen themselves onto her forehead. She also noticed a small cut running across her cheekbone…
One by one, memories of the previous events trickled back into Zelda's mind, each one being no more than a mere snapshot of the occurrence. The trail, an ambush, the attacking bulblins, a crossbow bolt, Link's cry of pain…
The realization seemed to slap Zelda harshly across the face. She could feel the panic welling up inside her, threatening to take over the little sanity she had just regained. She shot up, only to be welcomed by a sharp pain that seared up her side. A wave of nausea washed over the princess as the blood rushed from her head, leaving her rather light-headed and temporarily blinded as specks of light danced across her vision. While recovering from her head spin, the princess ran her hand over the previously forgotten and now semi-frozen gash in her side. Thankfully, the frozen blood was only around the edges of the wound, and had staunched most of the bleeding. Zelda was suddenly glad that she'd been lying on her unscathed side…
The princess managed to stand, ignoring the pain and stiffness that was now searing through her body. She had to find Link, before it's too late…
It didn't take long for Zelda to locate her blonde companion. His black and green attire against the white surroundings made the youth stand out like a sore thumb. The princess rushed over to his side, praying that she wasn't too late. Link simply lay there on his back, in a rather sprawled out fashion with a tranquil look on his face. The crossbow bolt was still embedded in Link's shoulder, towering over its victim in triumph. The panic within Zelda surged as she realized that he wasn't moving. She sat down beside her unconscious friend, a look of worry and fear upon her porcelain features. She gingerly positioned her hand over his mouth, praying that she would feel his warm breath brush against her skin. She waited patiently, each moment seeming to take an eternity to pass. If anything was to happen to him, she would never be able to forgive herself…
To her complete and utter relief, Zelda felt a warm rush of air brush against her poised hand. As great as it was to discover that her friend was alive, the princess was still extremely troubled. His breath had been far too light, and she realized that if she hadn't been paying attention she would've missed it.
Without a second thought, Zelda reached across Link and shoved her hand into his bottomless pouch, being careful of the bolt as she did so.
Agh, where is it… come on… spare shield… agh! Oh great, now I'm bleeding...stupid sword… wait…yes! There it i- wait, no, that's his hookshot… come on… where for the love Nayru is that stupid red potion!
As that last thought crossed her mind, Zelda felt the cool, smooth texture of glass brush against her hand. She pulled the vial into view, grumbling in annoyance as she examined the red concoction in her bloody hand. She hastily uncorked it, and then gently tilted Link's head back. Praying that it wouldn't go down the wrong hole, she slowly poured the bitter liquid down his throat. Once the vial was empty, Zelda placed the vial back into Link's pouch and waited. The lack of choking and hacking told her that her companion hadn't accidentally inhaled any of the potion, and it didn't take long before Link began to stir.
He groaned, not being able to accomplish much else. The young hero could feel the pain from the embedded bolt tugging at his conscious, trying to pull him back into the sea of darkness from which he had just emerged. Link would've preferred to return to his numb state, but he knew that it was far too late for that. Someone… or something… had awoken him, and a mixture of curiosity and mild fear forced his tired eyes open. Ignoring the incredible pounding in his head, the youth opened his eyes, and for the next few moments Link saw nothing but white. As his vision returned to normal, Link could make out a blonde and porcelain blur hanging over him, and his worries were instantly put to rest. He continued to watch the blur take its true form, his eyes lingering on the brilliant blue ones that watched him so diligently from above. He could see the worry and fear in them being washed away by the waves of relief, and her grimy features seemed to reflect every ounce of it.
"Zelda…" he croaked.
The princess beamed at her conscious friend, mentally praying a million thanks to the Goddesses for his awakening. She gently brushed his dirty blonde fringe from his eyes, which were now blinking and squinting furiously, trying to fight off the same light that had attacked Zelda's eyes no more than a few minutes ago. Her eyes lingered on his for a moment, but her vision dragged her reluctant conscious back down to his shoulder, where the crossbow bolt was still embedded. The wound had just begun to scab over around the edges, and blood was still oozing around the base of the protrusion. It wasn't a pretty sight, and the fact that it was Link's flesh that it had been forced into didn't make Zelda feel any better. A low moan escaped from his lips, followed shortly by a sharp intake of breath. The blonde princess watched her friend's face contort in pain as his senses reminded him of his wound, and she knew that she would feel unnecessarily guilty for what she was about to do…
Zelda quickly glanced at her surroundings. If she was going to do this, she would have to retrieve something fairly strong for Link to bite down on (to help bare with the pain and to make sure that he wouldn't bite his tongue off or anything). She soon found a small dead tree just a few paces off, a small amount of snow resting on the thickest off branches. In a rather ungraceful fashion, Zelda got to her feet and made her way to the dead plant, nearly tripping as she moved from the ice onto the newly discovered snow. She struggled to pull the select branch from the wooden carcass, and upon its removal the princess mentally deemed it more than strong enough to withstand the jaw power of a white wolfos. She made her way back to her wounded companion, who was watching her with a weary yet knowing look on his face. With a quick flick of her wrist, a small, sharp Sheikah dagger was shifted from her sleeve to her hand, the surrounding light glinting off its honed edge. The Hylian princess had seen Impa, her guardian, do this to one of the palace's guard when he was hit with an arrow in a training accident. It was a fairly easy method on her account, but it was going to be anything but that for Link. No matter how much this was going to hurt, it had to be done. Besides, Zelda thought to herself. This is a bulblin bolt. Knowing them it's probably got some sort of horrible poison on it... She knelt down next to Link, removed his hood and began to clean the wound.
Link winced as Zelda dabbed at the wound with his hood, trying to remove as much of the dirt and ice as possible. Occasionally he would release a soft yelp, but he tried to keep a brave face for Zelda, which (just by looking at the expression on her face) he could tell that she was letting guilt seep into her mind with every pain-induced action or sound he made. After what seemed like an eternity, she placed the hood back down and snapped the tail off the bolt. Link couldn't help but yelp as the embedded bolt shifted in his already aching torso, but he kept silent as she brought her Sheikah dagger up to his shoulder. Link watched the princess' face grimace as she calculated where to make the incisions, and was suddenly very glad that she bore the Triforce of Wisdom. She finally decided on the location, and with a steady hand she made two small incisions in Link's chest, who grimaced slightly at the blade's sting. He could feel his blood begin to ooze from the cuts, which were located at the base of the bolt, forming a line over where the barbed bolt head should be. Zelda brought up the stick that she had retrieved earlier and placed it in his hand, a grim and worried look adorning her face. Link placed the wooden bit in his mouth with a shaky hand. He then twisted the stick around in his mouth in mock examination, "hmm"-ing and "uh"-ing, making sure the stick was 'good' enough for him. Zelda half-heartedly laughed at his little performance, which she had successfully perceived as an attempt to cheer her up.
"Stop it, Link. You're not making this any easier,"
Link just rolled his eyes in response (which with his relatively dry eyes was a far more difficult task than he had first thought).
She gently placed her left hand next to the bolt, and with her right she took a firm grip on the protrusion. "You ready?"
Link sighed and shut his eyes, bracing himself for the agony that was about to tear through his torso…
A few moments later, a muffled, blood-curdling scream tore through dominant silence that engulfed the icy fortress.
The turquoise beast winced at the heart-wrenching sound. It reverberated across the isle, reminding him of his inability to help the two Hylians he had just saved. He knew he should've helped them, but he also knew it would be far wiser not to. For now he had to remain secret, remain hidden. The dark armies were regrouping, and if word of his existence were to reach the wrong ears, he would be incapable of leaving the White Isle, let alone getting the two Hylians back to their own realm. As long as they stayed together, he was sure they would be fine. At least Cyril has the remedies…
The ancient turquoise beast cursed at the wound one of the bulblins had inflicted during his escape, and then took off into the skies. Regret and remorse entered his mind as Dante's Freezer began to shrink behind him, the two Hylians along with it…
May the ancestors guide us…
A/N: Okay, first of all, a thousand apologies for the extreme delay in this chapter being posted. I've had everything from computer viruses and the complete and utter break down of my laptop stopping me from getting this up (other reasons include laptop fan dying, reformating, dancing, school/homework, work, the passing of my god mother who died of Friedreicks Ataxia (Rest in peace Aunty Kelly), pokemon black, numerous writer blocks, procastination and relatives coming to stay 8D)
Hope this chapter turned out alright. I was going to have other events occur in the chapter, but I thought it might be better for the future chapters. Please read and review, I would love to get some feed back!
Also, the 'tear' used in the title is the ripping one, not the crying one (you could interpret it either way, but I intended it to be the rip meaning)
Lord Lithos Maitreya: D'aw, shucks! Thank you so much, and I will be sure to ask for help if I need it! :D
spyrolink: Thanks! Phew, I was kinda worried I had left something out (just hopes that I wasn't rambling too much XD)
Skywing Flame: Yay! Thanks so much (feels all happy inside X3)! I'm glad it's turning out how you said, it's great! Haha, I shall, although I will admit that our lessons seem to drag out lately, and keeping the teacher in my rather small attention span is becoming increasingly difficult xD Yays! (He'd better be proud...*shifty eyes*). Btw, I love your reviews, they are so enlightening! Thank you
I do not own any of the LoZ or LoS characters, concepts, etc.
Edits:
- Minor formatting corrections
(Seriously though, there was next to nothing that needed changing with this one XD)